The French cleat is an easy way to hang heavy stuff. It simple to make and cheap. One of the members gave me this piece of hard maple, I was going to make some frames out of the wood but as it was sitting at my house I want to see what it would look like on the wall.

Step 1: Cutting the French Cleat

Rip down the 3/4 ply wood to about 4 inch wide. This may size my various with project to project. Move the blade to 45 degree angle and set the fence to about 2 inches. Rip down your plywood at 45 degrees.

If you only have a one piece of wood, you can rip the 45 degree angle edge of the ply-wood, and then cut the wood to size on the chop saw. All you really need are two 45 degree angles that can lock in to each other.

Chop saw
Cut down to the size that is needed. When cutting the cleat on the chop saw, be sure to keep the larger surface area on the bed of the saw. The wall mounted cleat should be just a slightly longer.

A 30 degree angle usually works better and the traditional french cleat uses that angle.<br> <br><br> <br>In the most woods, a 45 degree angle will form to sharp and angle at the tip of the cleat which will be brittle. The tip will break off under pressure or repeated motion e.g. taking things of and on the cleat.&nbsp;<br> <br><br> <br><br> <br>

How about if you were to cut a channel into the wood with a router, the same dimensions as the ply piece, so you would need just one ply cleat mounted to the wall then the mount would be hidden and no need to pack out the bottom to make the wood sit flush?